ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK. 127 



knew of one nest for certain. Black Eedstart at Brancaster 

 (E. Clarke). 



19th. — N.N.E., 4. Mr. Jary saw a pair of birds flying over 

 Breydon, which he thought to be Avocets ; and on the same day 

 a White Stork was unfortunately shot at South Wootton, which 

 is close to the Wash ('Field'). 



22nd. — Five Herons' nestst at Wheatacre, which is five miles 

 from the larger heronry at Beedham, where, Mr. Southwell was 

 told on a recent visit, there were eighty-five nests. 



24th. — A "trip" of seven Dotterel on passage seen near 

 Yarmouth (B. Dye). 



25th. — A Dunlin, catching mudworms on Breydon flats, was 

 seen by Mr. Patterson to walk several feet down to the water 

 with the worms dangling from between its mandibles, wash them, 

 and return for more. 



26th. — Hundreds of Whimbrel on Breydon (G. Jary). 



27th. — Some Starlings observed by Mr. Patterson to be 

 hovering over Breydon Broad like Gulls, in order to snatch up 

 black flies which were floating drowned by thousands on the 

 surface. 



28th (d.u). — Two Black-winged Stilts and a Bed-necked 

 Phalarope on the Broads (M. Bird). These Stilts may have 

 been the birds mistaken for Avocets on the 19th. 



30th. — Four Hooded Crows, two of them apparently young 

 ones, on Cromer Lighthouse hills (Birch). 



31st. — A Water-Bail passing over the town of Yarmouth 

 struck a telegraph-wire, and fell into a yard ; and a fortnight 

 later a Kingfisher was picked up among some houses (Patterson). 

 Such accidents are not very uncommon. 



June. 



1st. — Utility of Finches. — Nearly all my gooseberry-bushes, 

 which were covered over with permanent wire-netting to protect 

 them from birds, have been attacked by the larvae of Nematus 

 ribesii, whilst those outside the netting, which have been exposed 

 to the birds, and consequently cleared of caterpillars by Chaf- 

 finches, &c, have borne fruit as usual. It is clearly better to 

 cover the fruit-bushes only for a few weeks in summer, when the 

 fruit is ripening, which I intend to do in future. 



